The Entrepreneur’s Tool Kit: Engaging Advisors to Refine Your Plan
“Success is not for the timid. It is for those who seek guidance, make decisions, and take decisive action.” — Jose Silva
In this week’s installment of the “The Entrepreneur’s Tool Kit,” we move to the seventh step, engaging advisors to refine your plan.
By now your entrepreneurial journey is fully underway. Your rapid prototype is in the market as a minimum viable product. You’re collecting valuable feedback from customers to refine your product or service and then repeating the process.
Things are moving quickly, and there is much to be done. Along with adapting your product, you continue implementing your blueprint, working with your team and building a marketing plan.
However, this is typically the point when many inexperienced entrepreneurs tend to become overextended and too focused on the individual tasks at hand. They become involved in the granular activities and forget to see the bigger picture. The strategy.
It’s easy to slip into micromanaging everything: you may want a say in the entire process or feel you need to guide your team every step of the way. If you’re a solopreneur, you might not have a choice. But as an entrepreneur, you’ve chosen to build a team, not go it alone.
This is where engaging advisors helps to overcome that pitfall. These individuals are seasoned executives who have worked in senior roles in major corporations or presided over previous startups. They know the role of founder is to see the big picture and ensure the teams are working seamlessly together.
Advisors will give you the fresh insight you need to see outside your own thinking. They will bring a macro-level vision to your company and help keep you focused on the bigger picture issues. From this, you will see how your business venture is functioning and interacting together. You will spot things working well and potential points of friction that you wouldn’t have before.
More importantly, these advisors will guide the growth of your business by helping to make valuable connections and investment decisions. In seeking their input, not only will your business thrive — so will your own development as a seasoned entrepreneur.
Previously on “The Entrepreneur’s Toolkit”: Building a rapid prototype.
Next week: Getting discounts through partners.
